Mama-Daughter Days

I just love when I can spend some quality one on one time with my kids.  This time it was Ema's turn.  Our friends invited Caleb to go skiing with them on Friday, so we ventured out to find a new TV stand for our family room.  You see, a few weeks back, I decided our big entertainment center was a bit much in this house.  It was just big and clunky looking.  So, long story short, I posted it on Craigslist and some nice couple decided it was just right for them.  On Thursday night, the husband drove out and picked it up.  And that left us with a TV on the floor.  Fortunately, my daughter loves a great shopping trip, so she was game to spend our time together this way!  Thanks Emaleigh.

We started with Gordman's because they usually have some unique pieces, but no luck.  We did have some fun trying on some hats tho!

 Maybe not the best look for you!

Then we ventured up to the other side of town and still couldn't find what I was envisioning.  We decided to eat some lunch where Ema shared some great teenage-girl conversation over fries and a drink.

We came to the conclusion that we were just going to have to head to Denver to our new favorite furniture store...

and, yes, we found just the right piece.  Just needs to be assembled of course, since that's the premise of this great priced store!

On our way back home we stopped in Castle Rock to peruse one of our other favorite shops...

The Barn

400 Third Street

Castle Rock, CO

We came across this little cutie made from an old book.

And while time alone together is wonderful, it is equally enjoyable to reunite with our whole family to end our day together!

A Little Rest for the Weary!

There is a reason why I could never make money from having a blog.  I simply wouldn't be able to keep up with posting each and every day.  I have a hard enough time posting a few times a month.  Who wants to follow a blog where the person writing the posts only shares every couple of weeks?!  It's a good thing I only do this so I can print it out at the end of the year and have a hard copy photo album.  It's a really good thing I don't do this for money, or else we wouldn't have any milk in the house!

Anywho..

We've been crazy busy wrapping up the end of the semester with my teaching and finishing up our 1st semester projects, as well as the kids having (what felt like) a bazillion projects to do for their teachers. As for Craig, he's just busy everyday.  No rest for the weary!

Oh, except for the mini-vaca to Florida that we took at the beginning of the month!  It was an unexpected trip that we planned a few weeks prior to visiting my dad and Cheryl. And thanks to the two of them we had an absolute fabulous and relaxing time!

 Anxiously waiting to board the plane.  They hadn't been on one for over 5 years.  Apparently all of our other vacations were taken by car.

A great view of the ocean as we started to approach our destination!

While our time was short and sweet, we had:

 Lots of pool fun!

 

 

  

Tons of beachy fun!

The water wasn't quite warm enough this time of year.

 Hunting for sharks teeth

Just love that feeling of sand between the toes!

 

 A beachy Christmas tree

 

Oh, and we encountered this guy, who actually didn't run and hide when we got up close!

But most importantly, we had gobs of family fun!

 

 

Deckin' the halls for Grandpa and Cheryl

 

 Won't be long before she surpasses Joshua, too!

 Some serious teenage fun!

 Matt and Mika

Hangin' with the cousins
Joshua--18
Matty--11
Caleb-11
Emaleigh--14

We were a bit bummed that our time was so short, but we had a great time none the less!

Thanks Grandpa and Cheryl! 

The tradition continues...

This year was our 14th year of cutting down our own tree in the mountains near our home.  Granted we are a bit further away than we have been in years past, but the thrill of hunting for that "just right" tree is always a thrill, and a tradition that Mr. Mann simply would not hear of letting go anytime soon.  Secretly, I long for the year that I can pull a tree out of the box, as well as, one that would fit into the space without consuming the home! Given that I won't be getting an artificial tree anytime soon,  I knew I wanted a slender tree this year.  Last years was simply too wide for the space. 

 Quinn leading the hunt this year!

It didn't take long for us to find "our" tree.  About a 5 minute hike and there it was.  Of course, I don't have a picture to show you it standing in all it's grandeur.  I put Mr. Mann on that photo duty and somehow it got "lost!"  Or so he says!

This was probably the fastest we've ever found a tree.  Usually we spend at least an hour hiking around and then we go back to what usually is the first tree we saw.  And of course, this all happens in freezing cold weather and in at least 6 inches of snow!  Of course, this year would have been a perfect day to hike in the hills to find that tree.  The temps were in the 50's, there wasn't a bit of snow.  Nature of the beast, I guess!

Now that the kids are older, we put them in charge of cutting duty!

 They did great!

 I just got to sit around and enjoy the day!  Much different than in years past.  Like when Mr. Mann tripped and fell on the camcorder (you know those huge movie makers from years past!) and got a black eye.  Or the year Caleb pee'd his pants--granted he was only 2.  Or the year that the snow was so deep Emaleigh couldn't even walk in the snow and everyone had to park on the side of the very narrow road making travel insanely crazy!  Oh the great memories we made!  (Would love to share photos of those days, but those all happened before I understood the concept of backing up your photos.  Can you say, bummer here?

 Love that he is getting so big he is carrying the tree now!

 The height is always deceiving when it is standing amongst the giants of the forest!

 Our two precious gifts of the season!

So after getting this beauty home, we had a change of plans.  We initially planned on putting in the living room area of our open concept home.  But then, we joked about putting it in the center of it all!

Well, it turned out not to be a joke at all.  Surprisingly, we all really liked the way it was the center of everything we do.  It reminded us of how we need to have Jesus as the center of all we do!  While, I was the one that needed the most convincing, I am also the one that is probably the most please with the way it sits in all its grandeur!

Wishing you and yours a holiday season filled with much love and gratitude for all you have been given.